My five least favourite contributions about gambling in the Houses of Parliament (2024/25)

The 2024 General Election was one year ago this week, which means it's a good time for reflection. In debates about gambling, here's the five worst contributions by politicians, as chosen by me.

Since the 2024 General Election, there have been lots of contributions from politicians regarding the issue of gambling. I haven’t listed them all, but I have chosen my least favourite (below) as well as my top five, (coming soon!). I’ll be back next week with the best five.

Feel free to use the comments section to give me your thoughts.

Counting down from FIVE to ONE

In fifth place

Dr Beccy Cooper MP, who said that ‘Gambling is not simply a cultural pastime for people or a leisure facility; it is an addiction’. A blunt comment which, as Lee Mottershead said in the Racing Post, came with ‘no context or evidence’. In just a few words, according to Mottershead, Cooper ‘made a blanket statement that wrapped up an occasional £2 punter with someone in dire straits’.

In fourth place

Abtisam Mohamed MP comes next, with her question to the Secretary of State about ‘the potential impact…on under-18 football players that have gambling sponsorship on their kits’. As the answer made clear, this doesn’t happen as it is already illegal. Questioning those with power should be an opportunity to show them up, rather than yourself.

Coming in at number three

The Lord Bishop of St Albans (Alan Smith), asked a question in the House of Lords about:

‘whether gambling machines of any category as defined in the Gambling Act 2005 are provided by (1) the navy, (2) the army, or (3) the air force, in (a) catering, (b) retail, or (c) leisure facilities, of (i) UK bases, and (ii) UK-run bases abroad.’

The answer was ‘No’. In fact, it was a little more than ‘No’. It was (and these are my words) ‘No. Just like I told you last week’ [Reference is here]. It seems some people are so keen to get their name listed alongside a string of anti-gambling comments or questions, that they forget which ones they have already asked.

And in second place…

Second is Alex Ballinger MP, who continues to refer to misleading suicide statistics on gambling, despite the Gambling Commission describing it as ‘wholly unacceptable’ to use statistics in this way.

Unfortunately, the poor use of statistics in public debates about gambling continues to go largely unchallenged. But MPs should know better, especially given the weight that is attributed to what they say, and the well-documented risks of misreporting suicide.

For continuing to use data which has been found wanting (see, for example, Dan Waugh’s in-depth piece in CIEO on the issue), the silver medal goes to Ballinger, the MP for Halesowen.

Finally, the number one spot

For my ‘first of the worst’, I have chosen Dawn Butler MP, with her extraordinary claim that ‘Gambling is more addictive than heroin or tobacco’, which was part of her contribution in the Westminster Hall debate on Gambling Harms. Chris Fawcett clipped part of this speech and it has been seen almost 4 million times on social media, with most of the comments being critical.

If she was going for a soundbite, then Dawn Butler certainly achieved something. The more serious point is that making unsubstantiated comments such as this does nothing to assist those with addictions who need help. And conflating different activities which need their own attention should not be what senior politicians do in public life. For that reason, the number one spot in this list belongs to her.

Dawn Butler MP (Brent East, Labour) © House of Commons

Let me know if you would have chosen differently.

[Next week - my top five!]